A new commissioned survey, looking into the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) supplied to the UK police force, revealed that 71% of UK police offers admit that unsatisfactory work boots have distracted them from their job. What’s more almost half (46%) confessed that they have even been prevented from carrying out their daily tasks due to bad quality footwear.

The research, commissioned by Dr. Martens, in collaboration with PatrolStore.com, also shows that, although almost all of the police officers questioned (99%) feel work boots are an integral part of their job, 92% feel more investment into quality footwear is required.

Worryingly, 91% feel more education on the importance of looking after their feet is needed due to the fact that over half (66%) spend between 8-10 hours on their feet each day.

The research also found that comfort and heavy materials were the main reasons officers were unsatisfied with their boots. Other key findings include:

Comfort overtook protection when it came to the most important footwear qualities.

Although 77% of officers were aware of the long term health implications of wearing poor quality footwear, however, a 98% revealed the importance of this is not always emphasised enough

The majority of UK officers (75%) would be willing to spend between £80 - £120 on a pair of good quality work boots.

Global Category Director at Dr. Martens, Jon Marchant, commented: “Our police officers are some of the most important public service workers in the country, ensuring the safety of the public at all times. This research backs up our initial insight into the latest requirements for end users when we were developing our Service collection, hence why we built-in styles which are lightweight, athletic inspired, have high levels of grip and provide additional comfort through our SoftWair technology. Even our new welted products in the range such as the Calshott and Howden were developed with tumbled leathers and additional ankle padding to provide added levels of protection”.

“It was interesting to read comments from officers who say their boots would cause blisters and other foot complaints, meaning they found it difficult to patrol an area properly. What’s even more worrying, however, is the number of officers who commented about how they’ve struggled to chase perpetrators due to the weight of their uniform, including heavy material shoes.”